European Hoops; American Perspective; Usually Watching on Replay Stream

Month: March 2017

“It’s like picking between one of the signature clubs…the very essence of what makes European basketball what it is…and basically like the Mr. Burns’ family picnic.”

-Rob Scott on this week’s Euroleague Adventures

After the last double-round week of the season, the Euroleague playoff picture is nearly complete. Anadolu Efes punched their ticket to playoffs with the combo of a massive road win in Kauans over Zalgiris in Round 27, and a derby upset over Fenerbahce in Round 28. While the seeding is still yet to be determined, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow, Olympiacos, Fenerbahce, Panathinaikos, Baskonia and Efes are all making plans for Euroleague basketball beyond Round 30.

However, there is one spot remaining, and these final two weeks will be a battle between two clubs who faced off against each other in Round 1 (who will also meet up against each other in what could be a playoff, “winner-take-all” game): Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) of Serbia and Darussafaka (Dacka) of Turkey.

It is highly likely that most fans outside of Istanbul will (or should) be pulling for Red Star to hold onto the Euroleague’s final playoff spot (they currently have the inside edge as they sit at 15-13 in the eighth spot; Dacka is 9th at 14-14). With one the lowest payrolls in the Euroleague, Red Star favors playing young Serbian talent developed within their youth system rather than filling their roster with expensive veterans. (Red Star has had one of the best U18 squads in Europe as of late; as they finished second in last year’s Adidas Next Generation Tournament and won their region again this year.) While this certainly didn’t win them a lot of headlines in the off-season from the European basketball media, it definitely helped win them over their fanbase, who could easily rally around a team that was populated primarily by their own countrymen, not always the case with European clubs. The approach has had its peaks and valleys of course, as head coach Dejan Radonjic has had to be patient this year in watching his young guys develop, especially on the offensive end (they started the year 4-7). But the core of young Serbians such as Stefan Jovic, Nemanja Dangubic, Marko Guduric, and Luka Mitrovic, playing along with more seasoned Serbian vets such as Ognjen Kuzmic, Branko Lazic, Marko Simonovic, and Milko Bjelica and foreign imports such as Charles Jenkins, Deon Thompson, and Nate Wolters has produced a club that has managed to be once again competitive with bigger clubs despite being dwarfed in terms of payroll and resources.

Red Star certainly doesn’t play the prettiest style of basketball in the Euroleague, as they rank second-to-last in offensive rating (only Barcelona is worse), and last in points per field goal, according to Overbasket.com. This is mostly due to the streakiness of Red Star’s offense, as well as their shooting, which is led by Simonovic, Jenkins and Wolters off the bench. When those three are hitting shots, they can beat anyone in the Euroleague. If they are not…well, it tends to be a rough night, as we saw in their last game against Barcelona, where Red Star posted a true shooting rate of 35.3 percent and 0.84 points per field goal (highlighted by Simonovic posting a 0.63 in that category). That is not to say Red Star is inept in putting the ball in the hoop. They have some players who can have big scoring nights and carry their team to victory, as Kuzmic, Simonovic, Jenkins and even Guduric (who played crazy well against Olympiacos) have proven. The unfortunate issue though is Radonjic and the Red Star fans have no idea where it’s coming from game to game (and if it will come at all).

So how has Red Star been successful? That can be mostly credited to Red Star’s defense, which ranks as one of the best in the Euroleague. They have allowed the fewest points per game at 73.3, just a shade better than Olympiacos, who is third overall in the Euroleague. Radonjic has his guys play incredibly hard on both ends, as they contest shots well, don’t give up easy baskets, and are able to switch for the most part pretty well off the pick and roll thanks to the all-around tenacity and sneaky athleticism of their players on the defensive end. Kuzmic has even become an average to slightly above defensive player with Red Star, something that was thought to be unthinkable last season when he played with Panathinaikos and was mostly regulated to limited minutes. As long as the offense is good enough, Red Star has come out victorious because of their stingy and tough defense. Case in point: If you look at their schedule this year, when they score more than 1.00 PFG, they are 13-2 this year (only losses came to CSKA in Moscow and Dacka in RD 1); when they score less than 1.00, they are 2-11. 1.00 is about average, so that just goes to show that when Red Star can muster “average” (not even good) offense, they will be on the winning side more often than not because they are so effective at preventing points on the other end.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t been easy to muster “average” offense as of late, thanks to guard Stefan Jovic missing multiple games due to injury. Jovic, who is talked about as a target of Barcelona this off-season and is struggling with a nagging back injury, missed Rounds 24-27 and only played 3 minutes in a Round 28 loss to Barcelona. The result? A 2-3 record and some missed opportunities to clinch a playoff berth. Jovic’s statline isn’t impressive: he’s averaging 7.5 ppg and is shooting only 42.9 percent and 0.95 PFG. However, when he’s on the court, the offense hums, as their true shooting rate is 48.6 percent and PFG is 1.05 when he is on the floor. When he’s not? Their true shooting rate dips to 43.8 percent and PFG sinks to 0.95. Without a doubt, the health of Jovic down the stretch, and how much he plays, will be a big factor in Red Star’s playoff chances. His playmaking, passing, and ability to lead the offense in high-leverage situations makes Red Star a slightly above average offensive team when he’s on the floor, and considering their defense, that should be enough to get them in the postseason.

The only question is IF we’ll see him on the floor in the next two rounds. Unlike some injuries to key players this year (mostly Bogdan Bogdanovic of Fenerbahce), it has been hard to determine when Jovic will be back seeing major minutes again.

We’ll find March 31st against UNICS Kazan.

While Red Star’s local talent and high energy crowd have made them the darlings of the Euroleague fan-o-sphere, Dacka may be their evil twin of sorts: they really haven’t been all that good until the past few years, after the wealthy Dogus group acquired their club, intent on making them a contender with traditional Turkish powerhouses such as Fenerbahce, Efes and Galatasaray. This season, qualifying despite the format downsizing from 24-to-16, there seemed to be signs of Dacka taking that step forward to become one of Europe’s elite clubs. They signed David Blatt, who coached the Cleveland Cavaliers for a season and a half (and took them to the NBA Finals). They acquired big-name American talent in Brad Wanamaker (coming off a solid season with Brose Bamberg) and James Anderson (who played last year with the Sacramento Kings); and they also picked up in the middle of the year, Ante Zizic, a Croatian national who was a highly lauded draft pick by the Boston Celtics in the latest NBA Draft. And lastly, after a 73-70 win in Belgrade (a very difficult thing to do considering those fans) in Round 1, it appeared Dacka was ready to make the transition into the upper division of the Euroleague after making the Top 16 a year ago.

But, this Dacka team just hasn’t lived up to the hype (or the hype the club wanted European basketball fans to believe). Other than Wanamaker and Zizic, nobody on this team has really performed all that well this year. They don’t seem to have much chemistry on the court, and while they certainly have a collection of talent like Anderson, Scottie Wilbekin, and Will Clyburn, they tend to thrive not so much within the offense, but more as individual 1-on-1 players. When they are on, sure it’s entertaining, but it hasn’t been consistent, and thus, not as fun to watch. It’s kind of shocking to see, especially when considering that Blatt, who made his name as a bit of an offensive wizard as a coach with Maccabi, has not been able to orchestrate much with this team (on both ends really, but glaringly on offense), despite some really talented pieces. Whether he’s making an adjustment back to Europe or trying to get over the “ISO-heavy” experience of coaching the LeBrons…(I’m sorry, Cavs) it’s safe to say it hasn’t really worked all that well for Dacka, and that Blatt hasn’t duplicated the success he had in Maccabi with Dacka in year one. (Rob Scott, Austin Green and George Rowland also reiterated this point more eloquently on their latest Euroleague Adventures Podcast.)

It’s pretty simple. For newly christened European basketball fans like myself who are growing more in love with the European game everyday; for those seasoned Euroleague veteran fans and bloggers who want solid, exciting playoff basketball; for those who care about the health of the sport in Europe and it’s future; for those that cheer for the underdog not just in basketball, but any sport…the decision is really simple when it comes to whether or not Red Star or Dacka should claim the last playoff spot.

Let’s go Red Star…and let’s go Brose Bamberg (who play Dacka in Round 29). Let’s start planning for a playoff game in Belgrade by April 1st.

This piece appeared in the latest “Courtside Diaries” post and was part of a longer joint piece. Please read the full post on that web site, as it features some funny perspectives from other writers in the Euroleague blogosphere.

There are five rounds left in the Euroleague season, and it’s starting to become clearer who will be seriously contending for a Final Four spot in Istanbul (Basically, Real Madrid, CSKA, Fenerbahce and Olympiacos). However, even though the season is almost over, it is fun to think about what teams could have possibly done to have improved their chances earlier in the season. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but what if Barcelona or Maccabi Tel Aviv or Brose Bamberg made a high-profile “transfer”, in the mold of NBA Trade Deadline deals, mid-season to boost their roster? Would it have made a difference, and pushed them in the playoffs? Or would the change in player composition have little to no impact?

Well, I decided to come up with three “transfers” that “should have” happened during this Euroleague season that would have made the Euroleague playoff race much more interesting. Granted, I don’t know if these moves would have worked or if the teams (or players) would have agreed to it, but these moves would have definitely entertained the Euroleague Twittersphere and fanbase alike.

Move 1: Anthony Randolph and Dontaye Draper to Barcelona

Anthony Randolph and Dontaye Draper have been key members to this first-place Real Madrid squad. Considering the amount of money Real Madrid has to burn, adding these two basketball vets was a smart move in the off-season to build the depth of “Los Blancos” for the long, grueling Euroleague and ACB campaigns.

However, Randolph and Draper, two key members of Lokomotiv Kuban’s Final Four squad a year ago, have sort of taken a backseat in Madrid. While Randolph has been solid and regularly part of the starting lineup, he doesn’t have the fanfare of Felipe Reyes or Gustavo Ayon, and he also gets mixed in the shuffle with Trey Thompkins and Othello Hunter. Draper falls in the same category, as he falls in line behind not only Euroleague superstar Sergio Llull, but rising star Luka Doncic as well, who may be the next “tall point guard God” of the NBA in a few years. Thus, both Randolph and Draper, though important to “Los Blancos’” success, can be seen as a bit expendable simply because there is so much depth at their positions currently in Madrid.

On the other hand, Barcelona has been a mess in Georgios Bartzokas’ first season. Ante Tomic has proven to age poorly, and has struggled offensively and defensively against athletic and active post players. Joey Dorsey was a rebounding-only player who provided little, if anything, on the offensive end before he was eventually released. And at point guard, Barcelona has struggled to find any playmaking beyond Tyrese Rice. Not only would both Randolph and Draper have added more scoring, production and athleticism to this Barcelona team, but Bartzokas would have been able to properly utilize them on the offensive and defensive end, thanks to his experience coaching them in Kuban a year ago. Madrid would never ship two key players like Randolph and Draper to their “El Clasico” rivals, but it would have definitely invigorated the Euroleague and ACB fanbase to see Randolph, Draper and Bartzokas reunited this season in Catalan country.

Move 2: Keith Langford to Zalgiris Kaunas

Zalgris Kaunas is still lingering in the playoff picture after a big win over Panathinaikos in Round 25. At 11-14 and in 10th position in the Euroleague standings, second year head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius (“Saras”) should be commended for maximizing the talent on this roster and having them compete against the best in Europe each and every week. There are some interesting and scrappy pieces on this team in post players Brock Motum, Augusto Lima, Edgaras Ulanovas and Paulius Jankunas as well as guards Leo Westermann, Kevin Pangos, and Arturas Milaknis. That being said, what has killed Zalgiris this year is the presence of a true scorer who can create his own offense on a consistent basis.

Keith Langford has been that player this year for Unics Kazan. He is averaging 22.2 ppg and leads the Euroleague in Index Rating as well at 22.74 per game (barely edging out reigning Euroleague MVP Nando de Colo of CSKA Moscow). And he is doing this for a second-to-last Unics team that has been ravaged by injury and currently sits at 7-18. Yes, Langford has fit in well for the Kazan-based club (which also participates in the VTB). But, his skills have gone to waste for a team that has fallen out of the race dramatically over the past 6-8 weeks.

The Lithuanian Zalgiris fanbase is one of most loyal and passionate groups in Europe, and Langford would fit in seamlessly into their basketball culture. The green faithful would appreciate his talents with sold-out crowds (not the case in Kazan, ) and multiple applauding cheers in his favor. In return, Langford would give Saras and the Zalgiris fans an experienced, competitive and multi-dimensional scorer who would be the missing piece to this tough Zalgiris team. With Langford, this team not only would have been a playoff team, but perhaps would have had some Final Four dark horse potential as well.

Move 3: Alessandro Gentile to Brose Bamberg

This has been a rough year for the once promising Italian star. After a breakout 2014-2015 season with Olimpia Milano where he averaged 14.4 ppg in Lega Basket Serie A play, and 14.3 ppg during Milano’s 20-game Euroleague campaign, he has gone through a slow, sad fall in Europe. While he averaged 20 ppg in the Euroleague a season ago, Milano did not make it out of the first round of play. To make matters worse, Gentile underwhelmed in Serie A play, as he only scored 11.8 ppg, and shot 49.4 percent on 2-pt field goals and under 25 percent from beyond the arc.

2016-2017 proved to be a nightmare for the young Italian forward. Gentile struggled to mesh with fellow Milano teammates and staff on and off the court, as he only averaged 10.8 ppg in 9 Euroleague games, and 9.5 in 6 Serie A games before head coach Jasmin Repesa and Milano management cut ties due to the star’s difficulties on and off the court (he apparently did not get along well with Repesa). New Panathinaikos head coach Xavi Pascual took a flyer on him, hoping that Gentile would give the Athenian club some offensive firepower as well as improve the team’s depth in the frontcourt, lacking due to an injury to James Gist in the pre-season. Unfortunately, Gentile never seemed to gel with his Pana teammates or fit in Pascual’s offensive and defensive system. After averaging only 3.2 ppg in 9 games, Pana released Gentile, leaving his future next season in Europe and beyond in doubt.

Brose Bamberg has surprised in many ways this season, staying competitive in the Euroleague even though they don’t have the financial resources of other clubs in Europe. Much like Zalgiris or Crvena Zvezda, while they lack star power, they stay competitive due to excellent coaching and superb team chemistry. A lot of that can be credited to Italian head coach Andrea Trinchieri, who has helped Brose overachieve in the Euroleague in his tenure as head coach, and created a culture of winning in Bamberg (both in the Euroleague and BBL). If there is one coach who could connect to Gentile and help turn around his career, it would be Trinchieri (who is also a fellow Italian), who while a bit eccentric, always seems to get the most out of his players, and finds the right roles for them in his offensive and defensive system. Gentile, a free-wheeling scorer, would have brought much needed relief to this Bamberg team offensively, especially to Nicolo Melli, who has constantly been the focus of opposing defenses since mid-season. Of course, would there be a chance Gentile would implode in Germany like he did in Greece? Perhaps, but I think Trinchieri’s more “free-flowing” offense and personality would have meshed with the volatile Gentile better than the more rigid Pascual.

This blog focuses on the Euroleague and little else. While I have thought about going into Eurocup, Champions League and European domestic league play, as an American, I do not have the time nor resources to go that in-depth into the full scope of European basketball. And thus, second-tier competitions like the Eurocup have gone mostly ignored by me during the regular season. It’s just one of the realities you have to accept when you’re running a blog powered by passion and interest in a subject rather than dollars.

However, we are hitting the home stretch of the Eurocup, as the quarterfinals have officially finished, and the semifinals begin Tuesday. With a champion earning an automatic spot in the Euroleague, the remaining four teams will be battling it out fiercely to gain one of those coveted positions in Europe’s top competition.

So, who should European basketball fans pay attention to? What are the matchups? Who should be favored, and why? Let’s take a quick look at the Eurocup Final Four, and their respective Best-of-3 series’.

Lokomotiv Kuban vs. Unicaja Malaga

Loko took care of business in the quarterfinals, sweeping VTB rival Zenit St. Petersburg with relative ease. They won 77-52 in Kuban in game 1, and then cruised to a 88-77 win on the road in the deciding game. After an uneven regular season in Eurocup play, where they went 3-5 in the opening round, Loko has been on a roll, going 5-1 in Top 16 play and winning 7 of their last 8 games. One of the big reasons has been the change in personnel, as Sasa Obradovic, the former coach of Alba Berlin, took over for Fotsis Katiskaris in November. Loko, coming off a Final Four appearance in the Euroleague season fired Katiskaris after a 1-3 start in Eurocup play, and the move has paid off, as Loko has gone 10-3 under the Serbian head man.

Obradovic has a fiery reputation (as evidenced by him nearly coming to blows with Alex Renfroe during a timeout while coaching Alba Berlin), but his personality has rubbed off on Loko in a good way. This team is certainly not as loaded as the Final Four squad a year ago. Anthony Randolph, Dontaye Draper, Victor Claver and Chris Singleton are playing for other Euroleague squads, and Malcolm Delaney is currently in the NBA. However, though they lack the star power from a year ago, there is a grit and toughness with this Loko squad that Obradovic has been able to find success with. Former Temple star Mardy Collins is a two-way player, who is able to do damage both in the post and the perimeter on the offensive and defensive end. Guard Taylor Rochestie this year with Loko has been able to recapture some of the luster he once had as a player with Nizhny Novgorod a couple of seasons ago (he suffered a bit of a down season with Maccabi Tel Aviv last year). And lastly, Matt Janning has added some much needed outside shooting and scoring, while Andrey Zubkov, Kevin Jones and Ian Vougioukas have provided versatility and production in the frontcourt.

Yes, on paper, this team is a lot less impressive than last year’s Euroleague squad. That being said, this Loko teams plays a lot differently from the 2015-2016 team…and that’s a good thing. While former head coach Georgios Bartzokas (now with Barcelona) had Loko humming as one of the Euroleague’s best defensive teams a year ago, offensively, they struggled to find cohesion. They relied heavily on the trio of Randolph, Singleton and Delaney, mostly in Isolation and Pick and Roll, and though it could be successful at times due to the talent of those three, it often could stagnate and be brutal to watch, especially against the better-coached defensive teams in the Euroleague. Obradovic definitely has utilized this Loko roster more creatively, as they seem to flow a lot better in the motion offense Obradovic has installed in Krasnador. And, they haven’t lost much on the defensive end from last year either, as evidenced by Loko absolutely suffocating Zenit St. Petersburg in the quarterfinals.

Obradovic doesn’t have the talent that Bartzokas had last season, but this team hasn’t lost much, and may be a bit more enjoyable to watch on a game-to-game basis in terms of chemistry on the court. That being said, advancing to the title game won’t be easy. Unicaja Malaga is playing in their first Eurocup ever, but it’s a dubious honor: Unicaja has been a mainstay in the Euroleague prior to this season. While Unicaja didn’t have the talent depth of Loko, they also were hurt in the demotion to the second-tier competition, as star player Mindaugas Kuzminskas ended up going to Darussafaka before eventually making his way to the New York Knicks of the NBA (Dacka got the money from the Knicks for Kuzminskas’ rights).

Much like Loko, Unicaja had to go through a bit of a rebuild in 2016-2017. However, head coach Joan Plaza has seemed to right the track of a club that struggled immensely down the stretch a season ago. Wing Kyle Fogg has been the leader on the perimeter and go-to-scorer for this group (though primarily off the bench), as he averaged a team-high 12.8 ppg on 55.1 percent shooting from inside the arc and 43.2 percent from beyond the arc during the Eurocup regular season. Fogg was not alone though, as Alberto Diaz, Jamar Smith, Oliver Lafayette, and Nemanja Nedovic all added much-needed production and scoring at the guard position for Unicaja. In the paint, center Dejan Musli has brought some much needed production over from Manresa, as he averaged 12.1 ppg and 3.9 rpg during Eurocup play. Additionally, Alen Omic has brought physicality and relief for Musli at the center position, while forward Jeff Brooks had added some needed athleticism and inside-outside scoring ability.

Plaza plays a bit of a different style from Obradovic. He prefers a slower pace, is a bit more methodical on the offensive end, and utilizes a deep bench. Much like Obradovic though, Plaza is a fiery coach who will get after his players when needed, but they have responded to him frequently on occasion, as evidenced by getting his team to come back after losing game one and win two straight games against Bayern in the quarterfinals (including the clinching game in Munich). Now, can Unicaja keep up the magic? Will they have enough left in the tank after the slog of not only a Eurocup campaign, but an ACB one, which is much tougher than the VTB slate that Loko faces domestically? It will be interesting to see, as Obradovic and Plaza will be holding nothing back on their squads, especially with the opportunity to return to the Euroleague on the line.

Valencia Basket vs. Hapoel Jerusalem

While Loko and Unicaja will be a fierce matchup, they are pretty close in composition to each other: animated coaches; rosters of overlooked, overachievers; both one year removed from the Euroleague. The other Eurocup Final Four matchup on the other hand is a battle between two remarkably different teams, not only in terms of style of play, but roster and philosophy as well.

Valencia, coached by Pedro Martinez, has been one of the strongest teams in Eurocup competition this year, highlighted by a 15-2 campaign leading up to the Semifinal. Valencia is an offensive machine, as evidenced by their 84.4 ppg. However, they score points with an incredibly efficient, spread the wealth motion-offense, which utilizes a full bench and multiple people scoring the ball. In many ways, Valencia exuberates the definition of a basketball team: multiple players contribute, they move the ball around unselfishly, and they communicate and frustrate opposing teams on both sides of the ball. The kind of culture Martinez has built in Valencia, and his ability to get his teams to compete with bigger, more financially-loaded Spanish clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid the past couple of seasons are coaching accomplishments that should be appreciated this year by more European basketball fans (they will be if they win the Eurocup and return to the Euroleague).

Valencia’s unique success is demonstrated in the numbers. During Eurocup play, only one player averaged double digits ppg (Bojan Dubljevic) and only three players averaged over 20 mpg (Dubljevic, Fernando San Emeterio, Joan Sastre). That kind of versatility and depth had made Valencia a tough team to scout and game plan for, as any player from Valencia can beat opposing teams on any given night. Additionally, they also have multiple players who can play both inside and outside, as evidenced by them ranking 4th in the Eurocup in 3-ptrs made. Hence, it should be no surprise that with that kind of depth, Martinez’s squad has only lost twice in 17 Eurocup games.

On the flip side, Hapoel Jerusalem and head coach Simone Pianigiani have opted for a different approach to Eurocup success. While Valencia has excelled with a spread-the-wealth, utilize-the-bench method, Hapoel has preferred a more NBA-like, star-studded approach. Without a doubt, Hapoel may have the most talented starting lineup in the Eurocup, with former NBA All-Star Amare Stoudemire and European mainstays Curtis Jerrells, Jerome Dyson, and Tarence Kinsey leading the way. And Pianigiani hasn’t shied away in his usage of his quartet of talented stars: in the playoffs, Jerrells, Dyson and Kinsey are averaging over 30 MPG, and Stoudemire is averaging over 26 MPG. That kind of playing load is typical of NBA teams, not European ones balancing a European and Domestic season at the same time. To compare, Valencia had only one player (San Emeterio) average more the 25 MPG during their playoff series with Khimki Moscow.

Pianigiani is a lot less complicated on the offensive end than his counterpart Martinez. Hapoel looks to get the ball to their playmakers off the pick and roll and in isolation, and that means letting their playmakers like Jerrells, Dyons, Kinsey and Stoudemire be creative in terms of getting buckets at the basket. For the most part, the strategy has been successful, as Hapoel averaged 86 ppg against Gran Canaria in the quarterfinals. However, they are extremely dependent on those four, as the highest ppg average beyond the four is forward Travis Peterson, who averaged 7 ppg and 23 mpg during the quarter finals. If any of Hapoel’s big four struggles from the field or is hitting a cold streak, they get in trouble, as they don’t have many options in their 9-man rotation to really step up and take the scoring mantle. Additionally, due to the freedom and fatigue caused by heavy minutes, it is common to see their stars make bonehead mistakes from time-to-time, sometimes killing the momentum they build on offense. That being said, they haven’t seen those issues often in either Eurocup or Winner League play thus far, but Valencia will be a significant upgrade from what they have faced for the most part in 2016-2017 in either league.

What’s funny about this situation is that both teams’ respective previous rounds provided good practice for their semi-final match up. Hapoel beat a Gran Canaria team that was well-disciplined , depended on a lot of different players for scoring, and played a deep lineup. Valencia bested a Khimki team that was loaded with athleticism and stars such as Alexy Shved, Robbie Hummel and Marko Todorovic. Hence, both teams should come ready on Tuesday after such competition in the quarter finals, though this semi-final match up will still be a major step up from both Gran Canaria and Khimki.

The big question to this series is this: who is more prepared? Will Valencia’s depth and discipline be enough? Or will Hapoel’s talent and explosiveness win out? Whoever wins, they will enter the Eurocup final as the favorite.

So, it’s been a while (two months roughly) since I have posted on here. I know. A lot has happened in the Euroleague. I haven’t been completely in the dark, even if my Euroleague Jam Twitter has suggested otherwise. I have still been watching games, though not with as much frequency as in the start of the season (I blame my coaching responsibilities for that).

But anyways, I have been getting the Euroleague writing itch again, and I have some free time on my hands as well. I figured writing sporadically about Euroleague basketball is better than not writing at all. So, I decided to write this post about Bogdan Bogdanovic and his impact on Fenerbahce as well as the potential of him going to the Sacramento Kings this off-season. (As I am a Kings fan and I know many Kings fans who are interested to see what his potential will be, especially since the Kings are rebuilding after trading DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins.)

So let’s take a look at Fenerbahce and Bogdanovic after his most recent performance from round 25.

Fenerbahce lost 79-74 to Baskonia in Istanbul, in a surprising upset that solidified Baskonia’s playoff status a bit as we head into this final five game stretch. The game was a bit of a letdown for a Fenerbahce team that has been playing well lately, as evidenced by them winning six out of their previous seven before the Round 25 loss. Granted, Fenerbahce was playing short-handed, as Ekpe Udoh was ruled out for the game due to precautionary reasons, and it was obvious that his presence in the post was greatly missed. (Anthony Bennett, who started in place of Udoh and played in the most extensive stint of his Euroleague career, didn’t perform badly, but didn’t exactly duplicate Udoh’s production.)

If there is one silver lining from the game, it may be the continued development of combo guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, who may have solidified his title as Fenerbahce’s “star” player going forward. Bogdanovic played a game-high 34 minutes and scored 26 points on 7 of 10 shooting from 2-pt land and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. He also added 8 assists and finished with a PIR of 26, which was a game high for both teams. While his impressive output came in a loss, that shouldn’t take away from what Bogdanovic not only did against Baskonia, but has done since he returned from injury in week 16. After missing extensive time, and taking it easy in 11 minutes against Olimpia Milano (in which he scored 0 points and took only two shots), Bogdanovic not only has returned to the productive form that was expected of him going into this year, but has perhaps surpassed that as well.

If you look at his game log, Bogdanovic has stepped up as Fenerbahce’s go-to perimeter player (and perhaps player in general) since round 21, where he struggled immensely in a 12 point, 2 of 11 shooting performance against CSKA Moscow (though his team won 77-71). He bounced back with a 15-point, 18 PIR performance in a tough loss to Turkish rival Darussafaka, but really came on the stage in huge wins over Euroleague Final Four contender Olympiacos and playoff-bubble team Zalgiris in consecutive weeks. In a 67-64 comeback win over a tough, defensive-minded Olympiacos squad, the 24-year-old Serbian scored 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field (3-of-5 from beyond the arc) to go along with 3 rebounds, 4 assists and a PIR of 29. If you watch the highlights below, it is quite a sight to see Bogdanovic battle for points against the tough Olympiacos defense, which may be the best in the Euroleague. The Piraeus-based club certainly put their pounding on him, but time and time again, especially in the fourth, Bogdanovic came up with crucial buckets, and willed them to a huge season-defining win.

His performance against Zalgiris was a bit more subtle, as he only played 21 minutes and scored 14 points on 4 of 7 shooting (2 of 3 from beyond the arc), but he did accumulate 7 steals as well as a PIR of 26 (only 1 point behind Udoh, who was the leader in PIR) in Fenerbahce’s 76-67 win. Put that together with his latest performance in round 25, and it is safe to say that this Fenerbahce team will be relying heavily on Bogdanovic down the stretch, not to mention depending on him to carry them to the Final Four. That is not an easy thing to say, especially considering this team has two All-Euroleague players (Udoh and Jan Vesely), and a former NBA player and Euroleague playoff stud (Luigi Datome) still on their roster. But after what he has done the past five games, there has been no one more productive for Fenerbahce, not to mention nobody else who matches up better head to head against the top playmakers from Final Four favorites CSKA (Milos Teodosic and Nando de Colo), Real Madrid (Sergio Llull and Luka Doncic) and Olympiacos (Vasilis Spanoulis).

Without a doubt, at this moment, Bogdanovic is thinking about how he can help Fenerbahce win a Euroleague title, which has just escaped their grasp the past couple of seasons (they have made the Final Four the past two seasons but finished fourth and second, respectively). Nonetheless, the big question for many basketball fans in general is if Bogdanovic will go the NBA, specifically the Sacramento Kings, who own his rights. The fit in Sacramento is fascinating mainly because it’ll be interesting to see if Bogdanovic can play the point guard position at the NBA level. While Bobby Dixon technically is the point on the team, Fenerbahce coach Zeljko Obradovic has opted to designate Bogdanovic as the main ballhandler in the past five or so weeks, and instead have Dixon play more off the ball. It was a bit of a risk to move a guy who primarily played the wing last season to the point position, but it has has paid off on both ends. Dixon has been able to utilize his strengths as a catch-and-shoot player from beyond the arc, and Bogdanovic has been able to create offense more off the drive not just for himself, but for his teammates as well (as evidenced by his 8 assists against Baskonia).

If Bogdanovic can make it to the NBA as a point guard (or at least a hybrid guard capable of playing it in limited doses), it will make his arrival in Sacramento much more exciting. As a shooting guard prospect, Bogdanovic is simply okay. A lot of NBA and Kings fans will be eager to want to compare him to Peja Stojakavic, since they are both Eastern European shooters who blew up Europe thanks to their scoring and shooting. However, Bogdanovic doesn’t have the height or shooting prowess of Stojakovic, so to make that comparison is unfair and unrealistic. That being said, Bogdanovic can create his own shot a lot better than Peja, and him getting more experience as a point guard on this Fenerbahce team makes the outlook of him perhaps playing a hybrid point in the NBA much more realistic.

He is going through his growing pains of course. He did have five turnovers last week, and I do not think he will have the passing prowess of a Sergio Rodriguez or Ricky Rubio by any means. However, he is a polished offensive player on many ends. He looks in control when he takes it to the rim. He can beat sagging defenders with his three point shot. And his vision is getting better, especially in the half court. His defense will be an issue, especially considering the athleticism of today’s point guards in the NBA (it’s tough to see him guard a Kyrie Irving or John Wall or Rusell Westbrook). It’s questionable if he’ll have the speed to keep up at that position on a full-time basis (which is why I think he is more of a hybrid). That being said, offensively he definitely has the potential to be an interesting point guard prospect who can really stretch opposing defenses thanks to his shooting and overall offensive polish, as one can see in this video below:

For the Kings, Darren Collison will be a free agent after this year, and Ty Lawson may be on his way out now after his latest brush with the law. That leaves huge gaps at the point guard position for the Kings, and they most likely won’t get a high enough pick in the draft to nab Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball, nor would they have enough money to lure a quality free agent point guard. Thus, with the Kings in full rebuild mode after trading their star player, Cousins, it seems logical that the Kings should take a flyer with Bogdanovic. Yes, him being a NBA point guard isn’t a slam dunk by any means. Can he adjust to other NBA point guards from the competition in Europe? That is hard to project accurately. But Bogdanovic isn’t just a spot-up shooter. He has a more diverse offensive game than that, and he has showed it in the Euroleague, becoming Fenerbahce’s most dependable player down the stretch.

It will be interesting to see if the Kings and head coach Dave Joerger will give him the kind of chance in Sacramento in 2018 that Fenerbahce and Obradovic has given him in Istanbul in 2017.